What is the FileMaker Data API?

The bottom line is that to use REST as part of your PHP solution, you would usually need to write a series of cURL functions and you would have to manually manage connecting & disconnecting from your server, and saving your tokens.

We created this class file to make it easier to manage dynamic REST sessions for soSIMPLE and our custom development. The goal of the class file was to help PHP developers start using the new REST engine as quickly and easily as possible.

We’ll also be updating it with new features. If you’d like to add something to it, please let us know.

fmREST will automatically log in for you as necessary, as each function is called.

Important note: since we use a cookie to keep track of your token, your first function, or a specific call to the login function should be called before any visible content on the page.

How the functions work:

The functions that are part of this class use the same name and the same construct as the Data API. The only substantial difference is that you can pass the parameters as either JSON strings, or as PHP arrays. We find that native PHP arrays have been the easiest method.

For specific reference of the expected parameters, and results refer to the API documentation, located on your FileMaker Server. The documentation is located: https://<your server>/fmi/data/apidoc/. There’s also a wealth of information here: https://fmhelp.filemaker.com/docs/17/en/dataapi/

Function Reference:

LOGIN:

$result = $fm -> login ();

notes:

We use the user name and password from when you instantiated the class. This is the only function that doesn’t take parameters the same way as the API Doc.

You don’t need to call this explicitly. It will be called whenever any data function is called.

Whether explicitly called, or part of another function, the login should happen before any content is shown on the page.

LOGOUT:

$result = $fm -> logout ();

notes:

We don’t log out automatically when functions are called. Doing so would add to the overhead of every call, defeating the purpose of managing tokens.

FileMaker Server will automatically disconnect you after 15 minutes, or you can call this function to manually disconnect the session.

CREATE RECORD:

$record['my_field_name'] = 'my_field_value';

$record['another field'] = 'another value';

$data['fieldData'] = $record;

$data['script'] = 'a script I want to run';

$data['script.param.'] = 'a parameter to pass for the script above';

$result = $fm -> createRecord ($data);

notes:

please note how the record data is an array of fields, wrapped within another array

all field data needs to be wrapped in quotation marks – even number fields

scripts can be set to run during specific parts of each routine. See API docs for more details.

DELETE RECORD:

$recordId = 1234;

$result = $fm -> deleteRecord ($recordId);

notes:

$recordId is the ID of the record – not the primary key field. You can find it in FileMaker Pro by calling get(recordid). It’s also part of every record returned from the API as $result [‘recordId’];

scripts can be set to run during specific parts of each routine. See API docs for more details.

EDIT RECORD:

$recordId = 1234;

$record['my_field_name'] = 'my_field_value';

$record['another field'] = 'another value';

$data['fieldData'] = $record;

$result = $fm -> editRecord ($recordId, $data);

notes:

please note how the record data is an array of fields, wrapped within another array

all field data needs to be wrapped in quotation marks – even number fields

$recordId is the ID of the record – not the primary key field. You can find it in FileMaker Pro by calling get(recordid). It’s also part of every record returned from the API as $result [‘recordId’];

scripts can be set to run during specific parts of each routine. See API docs for more details.

GET RECORD:

$recordId = 1234;

$result = $fm -> getRecord ($recordId);

notes:

$recordId is the ID of the record – not the primary key field. You can find it in FileMaker Pro by calling get(recordid). It’s also part of every record returned from the API as $result [‘recordId’];

scripts can be set to run during specific parts of each routine. See API docs for more details.

GET RECORDS:

$parameters ['offset'] = 1;

$parameters ['range'] = 50;

$parameters ['script'] = 'my script name';

$parameters ['script.param'] = 'a parameter for that script';

$result = $fm -> getRecords ($parameters);

FIND RECORDS:

$request1['my_field_name'] = 'my_field_value';

$request1['another field'] = 'another value';

$request2['my_field_name'] = 'my_field_value';

$query = array ($request1, $request2);

$data['query'] = $query;

$data['limit'] = 2;

$data['script'] = 'find script';

$data['script.param'] = 'script parameter';

$result = $fm -> findRecords ($data);

notes:

you can have any number of requests be part of a query by adding elements to the $query variable.

you can also add sort, offset, range and portal by adding these parameters to the $criteria variable.

please note how the request data is an array of fields, which is wrapped within another array, then wrapped into another array before it’s sent to the findRecords function.

all field data needs to be wrapped in quotation marks – even number fields

scripts can be set to run during specific parts of each routine. See API docs for more details.

UPLOAD CONTAINER:

$recordId = 1234;

$fieldName = 'container';

$file = $_FILES['file'];

$result = $fm -> uploadContainer ($recordId, $fieldName, $file );

notes:

$recordId is the ID of the record – not the primary key field. You can find it in FileMaker Pro by calling get(recordid). It’s also part of every record returned from the API as $result [‘recordId’]

SET GLOBAL FIELDS:

$globals['my toc::my field'] = 'my_field_value';

$globals['another toc::another field'] = 'another value';

$data['globalFields'] = $globals;

$result = $fm -> setGlobalFields ($data);

notes:

please note how the field data is an array of fields, wrapped within another array

all field data needs to be wrapped in quotation marks – even number fields

DEBUGGING:

By setting a variable $debug anywhere on your page to $debug=true, the class file will output an array object of the data being generated for debugging purposes.